Effect of cephalexin (CEX) on virulent
Treponema pallidum Nichols strain was investigated. The results were summarized as follows:
1) The VDRL titer of 7 rabbits were determined following intratesticular infection with
T. pallidum and after oral administration of CEX 80mg per kg per day for 2, 5 or 10 days. Those animal treated with CEX for 5 days or 10 days exhibited rapid decrease of VDRL titer, but for 2 days only a few decrease.
2) Syphilitic orchitis which occurred following infection disappeared after 10 days from the beginning of the treatment with CEX.
T. pallidum from the lesion were immobilized after 2 days treatment.
3) To investigate the direct effect of CEX on
T. pallidum in vitro
T. pallidum from the syphilitic orchitis were incubtead in medium containing various amount of CEX for 17 hours. It was found that 100%
T. pallidum were immobilized by the CEX concentration at 0.002
μg/ml, 70% of
T. pallidum were immobilized at 0.001
μg/ml CEX.
4) Five patients with ulcus durum, ulcus mixtum, congenital syphilis or syphilis latens were treated with CEX. Healing of the lesions and the decrease of antibody titer were observed in all patients.
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